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CHAPTER

12

Bookkeeping and Accounting and

Financial Statements

ny business activity, be it manufacturing, servicing or trading, involves

monetary transactions. At the end, if the total money received is more
than the total money spent, the business is said to have generated a surplus
or `profit'. If it is otherwise, the business is said have been in deficit' or
`loss'. Every business intends to generate a surplus or profit. Therefore, the
promoter(s) is/are always interested in knowing the outcome of the economic
activity.
Several transactions take place in the course of business. To remember all
of them is almost impossible. A business therefore, needs to record all such
transactions to find out the outcome of the business activity. A methodical and
systematic science has been developed which helps the promoter record all
economic transactions properly and know the outcome of the business dealings. This science is called "Financial Accounting."
Accounting is a name given to the system which measures, records, analyses and reports the effect of business transactions and events taking place
in a business enterprise. Since such reporting is in financial units, the
system is also known as financial accounting. It has been defined as the
art and science of recording business transactions in a methodical manner
so as to show (a) the true state of affairs of a business at a particular time,
and (b) the surplus or deficiency, which has accrued during a specified
period.
Thus Financial Accounting involves (a) data recording and (b) data
presenting technique used for recording various transactions. This is
called Bookkeeping. The data recorded is summarised and systematically arranged and presented to various users in the form of Financial
Statements.

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WHAT

IS

BOOKKEEPING?

Bookkeeping is one of the functions of financial accounting. Bookkeeping

entails maintaining proper records and books for recording complete details
of transactions made during the course of business. Business transactions can
be classified into several major activities/groups e.g. sales, purchases, assets,
etc. Separate books for recording transactions pertaining to these activities
are maintained, registering in them the details of respective transaction. This
exercise is called Bookkeeping.

Why are Books of Accounts Maintained?

It is extremely important to have the latest information about what is happening in business. This helps in taking appropriate and timely action. A doctor needs details about the physiological conditions of a patient to diagnose
the illness, its causes and its remedies. Just like that the owner of the business,
creditor, or banker needs to know about the latest financial health of the business for taking suitable decisions about the future course of action.
Bookkeeping helps in maintaining and providing the latest financial position
of the business and, therefore, assumes great significance. It is advisable to
maintain books of accounts for the following reasons as well:
z
z

They provide up-to-date information about the business.

They reflect the outcome of transactions made during the period under
review.
They give information about the state of affairs of the business at
regular intervals.
They help governments and other authorities to decide about the
incidence of various taxes.

They help analyse the performance of the business.

They help compare the performance of several business firms.

The accounting information of business is required not only by the owner of

the business but by various other parties too. They are the government, suppliers, creditors, bankers, investors, shareholders, auditors, etc. They depend
on the information prepared by financial accounting for taking various decisions pertaining to their activities. This emphasises the need for writing
books of accounts in a systematic and methodical way. Though, as an owner
of the business one has the prime responsibility to write and maintain the
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books of accounts, one is not free to write the accounts, the way one likes. They
have to be written as per the norms and principles of techniques and systems of
accounting used the world over. There are a few accounting techniques available for writing accounts but the Double Entry Bookkeeping System has universal acceptability and credibility. It is the modern and scientific accounting
system designed to reflect the true and fair position of the business.

DOUBLE ENTRY BOOKKEEPING

The concept of the Double Entry Bookkeeping System is based on the principle that every economic transaction has two effects, which are exactly opposite to each other. Any transaction can have only two effects: debit and
`credit', and they are always equal. As a result, at the end of the accounting
period, the accounts should tally, meaning thereby that both total debits
and total credits should tally with each other. Double entry bookkeeping is
designed in such a way that, while entering the credit entry of a particular
transaction, the details of the corresponding debit entry is also given.

Writing Accounts Under Double Entry

Bookkeeping
Transactions
In business, the promoter does several transactions. The effect of these transactions on the business is recorded in the books of accounts. Only those transactions, which result in exchange of money or exchange of goods or services,
whose value can be measured in monetary terms, need accounting treatment.
Transactions may be of the following nature:
a. Exchange of goods against cash/credit
b. Exchange of services against cash/credit
c. Exchange of assets against cash/credit
d. Payment of cash to creditors
e. Receipt of cash from debtors
f. Exchange of goods against assets
g. Exchange of goods against services

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Thus several types of transactions take place in business and they form the starting point of accounting. There are two types of transactions: (i) Cash transactions
and (ii) Credit transactions. Cash transaction results in exchange of cash, while
credit transaction results in an obligation to pay / receive cash in the future.

Accounts
Transactions involve accounts. Each transaction has to be done through an
account. There are total three types of accounts:
i. Personal Account or Individual account: This group of accounts
includes all accounts of individuals and organisations like a firm, a
corporate entity, a society, etc.
ii. Assets Account: This group of accounts covers all types of assets.
Assets mean all those investments made in tangible or intangible
form of assets, which have utility value or use value. Moreover,
these assets can also be disinvested and converted into cash.
iii. Income-Expenditure Account: This group of accounts encompasses
all accounts, which represent revenue income and revenue expenditure of the business.

Rules of Debit and Credit

In the Double Entry Book-Keeping System, each transaction has two effects.
One is called Debit and the other is called Credit. Thus each transaction
has minimum one debit effect and minimum one corresponding credit effect.
There are prescribed rules for debiting and crediting various accounts, which
are classified under three major groups as mentioned above. These rules form
the basis of accounting under Double Entry Bookkeeping System. Below
given are these rules:
(i) Rule for Personal Accounts: "Debit the Receiver and Credit the Giver".
Explanation: Any person involved in a transaction can either be a receiver of
cash, asset or services, or be a giver of cash, asset or services, without any
immediate consideration. The account of the person who receives is debited,
while the account of the person who gives is credited.
(ii) Rule for Assets Accounts: "Debit what comes in and Credit what goes out."
Explanation: In business, goods and assets come and go. Whenever assets or
goods come in the business its respective account is debited, while in the case
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of assets or goods going out of the business as a result of a transaction, its

respective account is credited.
(iii) Rule for Income-Expenditure Accounts: "Debit Expenses and Losses
and Credit Incomes and Gains"
Explanation: This group of accounts covers all revenue income and expenditure accounts. All those revenue incomes that are generated during the course
of the business are credited in their respective accounts and all such revenue
expenditures incurred during the course of the business are debited in their
respective accounts.
Steps for Identifying Debit or Credit Effect
i. Decide whether the transaction needs accounting treatment.
ii. Determine which are the two accounts involved in the transaction.
iii. Apply the rules of debit and credit for the identified accounts as per
their classification.
iv. It should be seen that there couldnt be both credits and both debits in a single transaction. Every transaction must have a debit and a
corresponding credit.

The Journal Entry

A journal entry is the first noting in the books of accounts whereby debit and
credit effects of each transaction on accounts are identified and noted along
with proper description. Journal entries help in preparing several books of
accounts. A suggestive format for maintaining a journal and writing journal
entries is shown below:
Journal entries in the book of M/s. .................
Particulars
Ledger
Debit
Credit
Folio No.
(Amount)
(Amount)

Date

Explanation:
i. Date: The journal entries must be written date-wise in a chronological sequence. It is ideal to make entries of the transactions daily. The
year, month and date of the transaction for which journal entry is
made should be mentioned in the Date column.
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ii. Particulars: In this column, for each transaction, the account to

be debited and the account to be credited is mentioned. The account,
which is to be debited, is written first followed by the account to
be credited. A word To precedes the name of account, which is
credited.
E.g. Bank Account debited to Sales Account
Subsequent to debiting and crediting the appropriate accounts, a brief narration of the transaction, if possible, in one line only is written in the
Particulars column.
iii. Ledger Folio No.: In the third column the folio number of the
respective accounts in the ledger is mentioned. This helps trace the
posting of each transaction and verify it.
iv. Debit and Credit: In this column the amount by which the respective account is debited and credited is mentioned. At the end of every
page the total of debits and credits is made and is carried forward to
the next page.

Ledger
A ledger is a book, which contains details of all accounts in which transactions are made. It contains a condensed and classified record of all business
transactions transferred from the journal or subsidiary books. Ledger is the
principal book under the double entry bookkeeping system. It contains up-todate information about all accounts, e.g. if an owner wants to know how much
he/she owes to Mr. X, he/she can learn this from Mr. Xs account maintained
in the Ledger. If such accounts were not maintained in the ledger, the owner
would be required to go through each transaction involving Mr. X to find out
the payment liability. This exercise is time-consuming and inconvenient. For
businesses with a sizeable number of transactions, it is impossible to scan the
primary books or journal every time to know the exact position of any
account. It is, therefore, very important to maintain a ledger.
A suggestive format for maintaining an account in the ledger is given
below:
Debit Side
Date

124

Account (Name of the Account)

Particulars

Folio
No.

Amount Date

Particulars

Chapter Twelve

Credit Side
Folio
No.

Amount

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Explanation:
It may be noticed from the format that a ledger account has two sides: debit
side (left-hand side) and credit side (right-hand side). Each side is further
divided into four sections, viz. Date, Particulars, Journal Folio Numberand
Amount.
i. Date: In this column, the date of a transaction as entered in the journal book from where the entry is brought to the ledger account, is
mentioned.
ii. Particulars: In this column the name of the account in which the
corresponding credit or debit (under the double entry principle) is
found, is mentioned.
iii. Journal Folio Number: In this column the page number of the journal book or subsidiary book from where the transaction is brought to
the account is mentioned.
iv. Amount: In this column the amount, with which the account is debited or credited, is mentioned.

Transactions
Transactions are entered, as and when they occur in the journal book or subsidiary books. From there necessary records are created in the ledger. The
process of transferring entries from the journal or subsidiary books to the
appropriate accounts in the ledger is called posting. If an account is debited
with an amount as entered in the debit column of the journal book, the same
is posted to the debit side of the account in the ledger. Similarly, if an account
is credited in the journal book, it is posted to the credit side of the account.
While posting entries, care should be taken to see that the name of the account
in which the entry is posted is not mentioned in the column of particulars.
Instead the name of the other account, which is affected under the same transaction, should be mentioned. While posting, each entry to the debit side of an
account should begin with the word To (in the Particulars column) and
each entry to the credit side should begin with the word By.

Balancing the Account

Normally as it happens, the total of all postings to the debit side and the credit
side of the account is not equal. The amount by which the total of any side
(debit or credit) is greater than the total of the other side is called the balance
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of the account. If the total of debit side is greater, then the balance is
called debit balance and if it is vice versa, it is called credit balance. For
example:
i. Following accounts always have debit balances:
a. Cash Account/Bank Account
b. Assets Account
c. Debtors Account
d. Stocks Account
e. Revenue Expenses Account
f. Losses Account
g. Investment Account
ii. Following accounts always have credit balances:
a. Creditors Account
b. Revenue Income's Account
c. Gains or Profit's Account
d. Bank Loan Account
e. Interest Received
As seen earlier, the journal book is the first book required to be kept in
the business where all transactions are recorded. It is the book of original
entry. Likewise, the ledger is the most important basic book, which records
all accounts. So long as the transactions in the business are limited and
simple, it is possible to enter all transactions first in the journal book and
then in respective accounts in the ledger. But with the size of a business
and the number of transactions increasing, it becomes difficult to maintain a
journal book for all the transactions and post them in the ledger. Under such
circumstances, it becomes necessary to divide the journal books and the
ledger into some separate subsidiary books, each of which is reserved for
recording one particular class of transactions, e.g. purchase book, sales book,
cash book, etc.
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BOOKS NEEDED TO BE
ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

MAINTAINED FOR A

SIMPLE

For a small industrial enterprise, the usage of the simple financial accounting
system is recommended. Such businesses must maintain a set of books as suggested below. By doing so, the businesses can get a correct and fair picture of
the activities speedily.
a. Journal: All transactions (except those which are to be recorded in subsidiary books) are properly recorded here.
b. Subsidiary books (for journal)
i. Purchase book: In the purchase book, all transactions pertaining to
purchases, be it on credit or by cash, are recorded. Transactions of purchase returned are also recorded here separately.
ii. Sales book: In the sales book, all transactions pertaining to credit or
cash sales are recorded. Transactions of sales returned are also
recorded separately.
iii. Ledger: All accounts involved in the transactions recorded in the journal or its subsidiary books are maintained here, and necessary posting
is made.
iv. Cash book: The cashbook is a subsidiary book of the ledger where the
account of `cash' is maintained. Transactions involving petty cash are
also posted here separately.
v. Bank book: The bankbook is a subsidiary book of the ledger where the
account of `bank' is maintained.
vi. Stock register: This is a register where the movement of stock is
maintained.
The formats for the journal book and the ledger accounts were discussed earlier. The formats of subsidiary books like purchase book, sales book, cashbook, bankbook and stock register are given here along with a brief explanation for its usage.
Format of a Purchase Book
Date

Party's
Name

Bill
No.

Ledger Item
Folio
Name

Quantity

Rate

Amount

Terms

Total

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Explanation:
i. Date: The date on which the purchase was made is mentioned here.
ii. Particulars: The name of supplier of the materials and necessary
details of the invoice are mentioned here.
iii. Bill No.: The number of the bill of the supplier is mentioned here.
iv. Ledger Folio: The folio number of the ledger, on which either the
supplier's account (if credit purchase) or cash account (if cash purchase) is credited, is mentioned here.
v. Amount: The net amount of purchase made is mentioned here.
vi. Terms: The terms of purchase, as on cash terms or credit terms, etc.,
are mentioned here.
Format of a Sales Book
Date

Party's
Name

Bill
No.

Ledger Item
Folio
Name

Quantity

Rate

Amount

Terms

Total

Explanation:
i. Date: Date on which the sales transaction took place is mentioned here.
ii. Particulars: The name of the purchaser of the goods and necessary
details of the transaction are mentioned here.
iii. Bill No.: The number of the bill given to the buyer is mentioned here.
iv. Ledger folio: The folio number of the ledger on which either the
buyer account (if credit sales) or cash account (if cash sales) is debited is mentioned here.
v. Amount: The amount of sales done through this transaction is mentioned here.
vi. Terms: The terms of sales transactions like, cash or credit is mentioned here.
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Format of a Cash Book

Debit side(Receipts)
Date

Particulars

Credit side (Payments)

Journal
Folio

Amount

Date

Particulars

Journal
Folio

Amount

Closing
Balance
Total

Total

Explanation:
The Cash Book is nothing but a cash account. Like other asset accounts, this
account is also required to be mentioned in the ledger. However, because of
the multiplicity of cash transactions and for convenience, cash account is not
maintained in the general ledger but maintained as a separate account and
named as cash book. All the rules of maintaining accounts in ledger apply to
this account also.
Format of a Bank Book
Debit side(Receipts)
Date

Particulars

Journal
Folio

Credit side (withdrawals)

Amount

Date

Particulars

Journal
Folio

Amount

Closing
Balance
Total

Total

Explanation:
Like cash book, bank book is nothing but the bank account required to be
maintained in the ledger. Since the transactions involving bank are increasing, it is convenient and proper to keep a separate bank account where all
transactions involving the bank are posted. This account, therefore, is separately maintained and named bank book. All rules of making posting in other
ledger accounts are applicable to this account as well.
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Format of a Stock Register

Date

Particulars

S.B./ P.B.
Folio No.

Receipts

Issues

Balance

Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value

Explanation:
The stock register is very similar to the stock account. It tells us about the
actual closing stock available with the business to help the owner physically
verify and place further orders.
i. Date: The date of transactions resulting in movement of stock is put
here.
ii. Particulars: The details of transactions due to which the stock
changes, are narrated here.
iii. Sales Book/Purchase Book Folio number: The page number of the
sales book or purchase book where the particular transaction resulting in addition or deduction of stock is put here.
iv. Addition: Purchase resulting in addition of stock. The quantity of
stock purchased along with its value is put here.
v. Deduction: Sales result into deduction of stock. The quality of
stocks sold along with its value is put here.
vi. The Closing Balance: The amount that accrues, as a result of addition or deduction is calculated and put here.
vii. Itemwise separate page is to be kept in Stock Register.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The main objective of bookkeeping is to record all transactions according to
the accepted accounting principles and practices. But only proper recording
of transaction is not adequate. Unless the various accounts recorded are properly classified for summary, it becomes difficult to visualise the total picture
of the business. It is, therefore, very essential to summarise all those accounting details recorded by maintaining various books and to present them in an
acceptable form. Financial statements are such forms in which all accounting
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details are presented for the use of various users like owners, bankers, creditors, tax authorities, government, suppliers, etc. With the support of the
financial statements, one can understand the financial position of the business
meaningfully.

Various Financial Statements

Normally at the end of the financial period for which the accounts are written, the ledger accounts are closed and balances are drawn for preparing final
accounts. The statements known as final accounts are:
i. Trial Balance
ii. Profit and Loss Account
iii. Balance Sheet
(i) Trial Balance
The first step in preparing final accounts is to prepare a trial balance. The main
objective of the trial balance is to determine the arithmetical accuracy of the
entries made in the ledger. The fundamental principle of Double-Entry
Bookkeeping is that every transaction has two equal and opposite effects. It
means, every debit has a corresponding credit and vice-versa. Hence the total
of all those accounts having a debit balance and the total of all those accounts,
which have a credit balance at the end of the accounting period, should tally.
They should be equal; otherwise the accounts would be inaccurate.
While preparing the trial balance, the accounts, which have debit balances,
are placed in the debit column, while the accounts, which have credit balances, are placed in the credit column. In every trial balance, the total of the
debit column must tally with the total of the credit column, unless some mistakes in posting, casting or compilation have been committed. The agreement
of the totals of debit and credit columns of the trial balance ensures only arithmetical accuracy of the accounting, but it is not a conclusive evidence of the
accounting accuracy as there are some mistakes which a trial balance cannot
detect. A suggestive format of trial balance is given below:
Format of a Trial Balance
Trial Balance of M/s. ------------ for the year ----------Ledger Folio

Name of Account

Debit closing
Credit
balance
closing balance

Total

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Explanation:
i. Ledger Folio: In this column the folio number (page number) of the
ledger or its subsidiary books where a particular account is maintained, is
written. This helps in crosschecking the accuracy of accounts.
ii. Name of Account: In this column, the name of the account whose closing
balance is being brought to the trial balance is written.
iii. Debit/Credit closing balance: In these columns, the amount of debit and
credit closing balances of individual account is mentioned.
It may be noted that a single account at a time cannot have both debit
and credit balances. If an account has a debit closing balance the amount
of that balance is mentioned in the debit column of the trial balance
against the name of the respective account. Similarly, if an account has
a credit closing balance, it is mentioned in the credit column of the trial
balance.
iv. Total: When the closing balances of all accounts from the ledger and its
subsidiary books are brought to the trial balance one by one, the totals of
account in the debit column and the credit column are made and tallied.
One should remember that:
a. Closing balances of all Assets Accounts, Revenue Expenses
Accounts and Losses Accounts are always debit balances.
b. Closing balances of all Revenue Income Accounts and Gain
Accounts are always credit balances.
c. Accounts of individuals to whom the business owes money always
have credit balances and accounts of individuals who owe money to
the business always have debit balances.
d. Loan (Taken) Accounts always have credit balances.
e. Cash Account always has debit balance.
If the totals of debit and credit columns of the trial balance do not agree, it
means there is some mistake in preparing the accounting books. The mistake/s, traced and rectified would tally the trial balance. However, there are a
few mistakes, which cannot be detected by trial balance, such as:
i. Errors of Principle
ii. Errors of Omission

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iii. Errors of Commission

iv. Compensating Errors
After the trial balance is tallied, necessary adjustment entries need to be made
for closing stocks, outstanding expenses, transfer provisions, etc.
(ii) Profit and Loss Account
The preparation of a trial balance is a step towards preparing the remaining
two more important financial statements correctly viz. profit and loss account
and balance sheet. However, its use remains to a great extent limited to detecting arithmetical accuracy. From the financial accounting system, the user
would like to know about the profitability of the business operations for a
specified period and the position of the business at the end of the period. A
statement that reveals the profitability of the business operations for the
accounting period is called Profit And Loss Account' (P & L A/c.).
Contents of P & L A/c.
From all the balances mentioned in the trial balance, the accounts that are for
revenue expenditures, revenue type of losses, revenue income and revenue
type of gains, are taken to P&L A/c. By doing so, it becomes possible to learn
whether the business at the end of the accounting period has generated a surplus or deficit. All accounts of revenue income and gains are brought to the
credit side, whereas all accounts of revenue expenditure and losses are
brought on the debit side of the P&L A/c. If the total income is more than the
total expenditure, the business is said to have generated surplus or profit. But
if the total expenditure exceeds the total income during the accounting period,
the business is supposed to have made losses. If the P & L A/c. has a credit
balance, it signifies net profit and on the other hand, if the P&L A/c. has a
debit balance, it denotes net loss of the business during the accounting period.
A suggestive format of the profit and loss account is given below:
Format of Profit and Loss Account
Profit and Loss A/c. of M/s.-------------------------;
For the period ------------------------Debit side
Particulars
Net Profit
(Balance Figure)
Total:

Amount

Credit Side
Amount

Particulars
Net Loss
(Balance Figure)
Total:

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Explanation:
i. Particulars: In this column, on the debit side, names of the following
accounts are mentioned individually:
a. All accounts of revenue expenditure
b. All accounts of revenue losses
Names of the following accounts are mentioned on the credit side:
a. Sales account
b. Closing stock account (if it is adjustment entry)
c. Accounts having credit effect of adjustment entries
ii. Amount: The respective amount of debit and credit balances of the
accounts, which are brought to the P&L account, is mentioned in these
columns on debit and credit side against the names of their respective
account head.
One should also keep in mind the following:
i. The P & L account contains all Income and Expenditure Accounts.
Not a single account from either individual, Personal Accounts or
Asset Accounts can be brought to the P & L account. All accounts of
Income and Expenditure Accounts get closed when they are brought
to P & L account while the balance of Personal/Individual Accounts
and Asset Accounts get carried forward to the subsequent year. All
income generated and expenditure incurred during the whole period is
mentioned in the P & L account.
ii. Subsequent to bringing all balances of the accounts to concerned
debit and credit sides, the total of their balances is made. If the total
of credit side is more than the total of debit side then the business is
said to have made net profit. The amount by which the total of the
credit side exceeds the total of the debit side of the P&L account is
called the Net Profit generated during the accounting period.
Similarly, the amount by which the total of the debit side exceeds the
total of the credit side of the P & L account is called Net Loss generated by the business during the year. Thus both figures of net profit
and net loss are balancing figures. Adding them up with the total of
the debit or credit side as the case may be would make the totals of
both the sides tally. This is a situation where total income is equal to
total expenses.
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Thus, if
i. Total of credit side > Total of debit side
of P&L A/c.
of P&L A/c.

= Profit

ii. Total of credit side < Total of debit side

of P&L A/c.
of P&L A/c.

= Loss

iii. Total of credit side = Total of debit side

of P&L A/c.
of P&L A/c.

= No profit/no loss

Net profit or net loss is the result of business operations during the accounting period. They are transferred to the balance sheet where the capital account
representing the financial involvement of the promoter is increased or
decreased appropriately by the figures of net profit or net loss.
iii. Balance Sheet
A balance sheet is a statement prepared for measuring the true financial position of a business at a certain point of time (normally the last day of the
accounting period). It is essential to prepare the balance sheet (i) to ascertain
the results of business operations during the accounting period; and, (ii) to
know the financial position of the business at a particular point of time. The
profit and loss account serves the former objective while the balance sheet
serves the latter.
As seen earlier, all the accounts pertaining to the group of Income and
Expenditure Accounts are taken to the profit and loss account. The accounts
pertaining to the remaining groups, viz. Personal or Individual Accounts
and Assets Accounts are brought to the balance sheet. The accounts brought
to the balance sheet are not closed. Their closing balances at the time of the
balance sheet are carried forward to the subsequent accounting period. They
are shown on the balance sheet only to apprise the users about the position of
the accounts at that particular time. The balance sheet should be prepared in a
prescribed format so that its understanding becomes easy. Given below is a
prescribed format of the Balance Sheet.

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Balance Sheet Format

Balance Sheet of M/s. ----------------------- as on -----------Liabilities
Capital
Reserves & Surplus
Secured Loans
(Received)
Unsecured Loans &
Deposits
(Received)
Current Liabilities
Provisions
Profit Accumulated

Amount

Assets

Amount

Fixed assets
Investments
Loans and Advances
(Given)
Current Assests
(i) Stocks -----(ii) Debtors -----(iii) Cash -----(iv) Bank -----Balance -----Accumulated Losses

Total

Total

Explanation:
It has been explained above that the balance sheet reveals the true and
fair position of a business at a particular point of time. Thus, the balance
sheet gives the details of what the business owns and what the business
owes. Whatever the business owns is termed as Assets and whatever the
business owes is termed as Liabilities. All liabilities are mentioned on
the left-hand side of the balance sheet, while assets are shown on the righthand side.
Assets
Assets are classified under the following broad heads:
i. Fixed Assets: Fixed assets are of permanent nature and the underlying
motive of the business is to utilise them for value addition. The total value
of fixed assets at the close of the accounting period is shown on the balance sheet.
ii. Current Assets: Current assets, unlike fixed assets, do not permanently
maintain the same form. In whichever form they may be, they are likely to
be converted in the form of Cash or Bank Balance in the near future.
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Normally, the following accounts are termed as Current Assets:

a. Stocks: Closing stock of raw material, work in process and finished
goods.
b. Debtors: Individuals from whom money is to be received (as a result
of business transactions) are termed as Debtors or Accounts Recei
vables and are also current assets.
c. Cash Balance & Bank Balance: Cash lying with the business, and
balance in the bank account of the business are current assets.
iii. Investments: At times, the business invests in some other businesses or
companies. The value of these investments is an Asset for the business.
iv. Loans & Advances (given): At times, the business gives loans or
advances to third parties. The value of such loans or advances is an
Asset. These are not similar to debtors (current assets) where the individual becomes liable to pay to the business due to his buying the product
of the business on credit terms.
v. Fictitious Assets: Fictitious assets are not real and tangible assets but are
debit balances of accounts like P&L A/c., Accumulated Losses A/c.,
Expenses Not Written Off A/c., etc.
Liabilities
On the liabilities side, all Personal and Individual accounts to whom the
business owes are mentioned. Liabilities can be classified in the following
broad groups:
i. Capital: Money invested by the promoter is a liability. Business
owes that much to the owner.
ii. Reserves and Surplus: Accumulated profit, which is not withdrawn
and is a part of profit, which is reserved for some specific purposes,
also belongs to the promoter(s). Business owes that much to the
owner. They are, therefore, liabilities.
iii. Secured Loans (received): Amount of loans taken by the business
is a liability for the business. These loans are secured against some
assets, which are offered to the institutions/person who have given
loans, as security or collateral.
iv. Unsecured Loans and Deposits (received): Like secured loans,
these loans are also liabilities for the business. However, these loans
are not secured.
Bookkeeping and Accounting and Financial Statements

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v. Current Liabilities: They are short-term funds taken for financing

current assets. Normally, they are credits offered by suppliers of raw
materials and the working capital loans given by banks.
vi. Provisions: They are liabilities in which case payment provision has
been made by the business from the profits, e.g. provision for tax
liability.
The total of the Liabilities side and the Assets side of the balance sheet
must tally. If they dont, there are some mistakes in preparing the final
accounts, which should be detected and rectified.

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